Week 27: Grateful to be a missionary

My wonderful, amazing family!

Wow. So much happens in just one week. And the majority of those things are lessons. Lessons with investigators, lessons with less active members, lessons from mistakes, trying to share lessons in the street with random strangers. This life is a lesson, a test, and we are students learning tons from our experiences, trials, and other people. I am thankful for lessons. haha, random thought,  but just wanted to put that out there...

We´re excited because this saturday is Humberto´s baptism as well as our missionary activity, the open house. We have a lot to do this week, including passing out all the invitations for the activity and committing our investigators to all come. we really want this activity to be a success, for our investigators, but almost more importantly, for the members of the ward who are putting a lot of effort into planning it. Humberto has finally gone days without coffee, but it´s a bit frustrating with him, because he never answers his phone and we want to follow up on how he´s doing and remind him to not give in to coffee, but he doesn't ever answer the phone, even when we know that he has returned from working. But hay vamos.

 Heison, when we asked him about his feelings towards his baptism date (that was for 29 of this month), he said that if he were to choose his own baptism date, he´d choose September 20 of next year......so that was harsh....we put another date with him, for 20th of December, but we know that we have to really help him understand that there is no time to procrastinate the day of his repentance and his showing commitment to the Lord. We taught him the Law of Chastity the other day....very difficult because he had a really hard time being serious, and was very uncomfortable talking about such a topic. He has a past life with lots of women and we knew it would be hard to teach him. He knows that it´s the right thing and that it´s a commandment of God. Now he just has to commit to live it. We also taught him about repentance and the Atonement that makes it possible to repent and to change.

WE found Catia this week, and we visited her three times. We found her outside of her house one evening and we introduced ourselves and asked her if she knew anyone that needed a message about Jesus Christ or how to strengthen our families, and she said that she would really like it if we could come and help her son, who is 16 years old. She wants to help her son make good choices and be a good person and she also wants to become a better person in the process. she came to church with us (we brought her in taxi....a huge sacrifice because now we have no money for food this week, etc. haha) and it was the primary presentation in sacrament meeting, which I think she really enjoyed. But she could only stay for the first hour, and then had to leave to make lunch for her son. Her son, Ignacio, is also investigating, but didn't want to come this Sunday with us to church....but his mom says that she wants to set the example for him, and with time, he will come too.

Well, my companion and I have learned a lot this week. For one, we need to be examples always and be careful about the things we do and say. For example, we were trying to teach Heison the law of chastity, all of his nieces were there present, even though we went outside the house to be able to teach him without little ears listening....and we went about trying to get them to leave in the wrong way...we gave them a dvd of the restoration and told them to go in the house to watch it and that we would quiz them after wards....but we should have just told them straight up that we didn't want them to be present in the lesson because we
needed to talk to Heison about a theme for grown ups...Katerine (sister in law to Heison and less active member) was very upset with us when she heard how we told her daughters to leave...and we had to ask for forgiveness and swallow every bit of ounce of pride or rationalizations that we had and ask for forgiveness and tell her how wrong we were. Thankfully, she forgave us (only after a good old lecture of how we should have handled the situation).....fun stuff. haha.and the next day we brought bread, bananas, and peanut butter to eat peanut butter/banana sandwiches with them. All is well. haha. It was their first time eating PBbanana sandwiches, but they liked them ;) Some of the pictures are of Katerine, and her three daughters
when we walked them home from the church house this sunday. The two who are wearing our nametags are twins :) Sharon and Jimena: they are 9 years old.

Nobody here celebrates Thanksgiving, only the states do so...so count your blessings that yall are going to feast on the best food there is to offer, haha. I am so thankful to be serving the Lord for a year and a half, giving him my all. I am thankful for such a supportive family, who know what things are the most important in this life. Thanks so much for everything yall teach me. I love you all so much. Remember to always to the little things each day and each week that will help your testimonies grow and to become more like Christ.

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Flake

Pictures Week 27:

Week 26: Amo Coronado

Hola mi familia amada,

Rafaela came to church!!! We´ve been waiting for 3 weeks for her to come to church, but something always came up or happened that prevented her from coming. But she came!!! And she brought her 3 kids, who are a big part of why Rafaela finally came. Andres, her son who is 8, since seeing Ethan be baptized, has wanted to come to Ethan´s church, and Camila also really wanted to come....Rafaela told us how Camila had been sick saturday night (she ate too much candy saturday) to the point where she was vomiting. Her mom told her that maybe they shouldn´t go to our church because Camila was sick, and upon hearing that, Camila suddenly said, "no, it´s ok, I feel fine" :) Thankfully they finally came and loved it. We had asked Karen (the member that we´ve helped to fellowship Rafaela) if she could pick up Rafaela and bring her to church. They did so, but missed the sacarament....but made it in time to hear the talks, including Hermana Rubio´s talk :) She kept telling me how nervous she was to give this talk, but she did great.

Rafaela stayed for all the classes as well, and her kids were given parts for next sunday´s primary presentation....haha yes! She told us that it was "muy bonito" the classes and everything. She even signed her name to come to the relief society activity next month! The ward is great, and everyone, ok, not everyone, but tons of the members said hello and greeted her.

And guess who else came to church yesterday! Heison! haha, yall don´t know who he is, so here is a quick explanation... Heison is brother of a less active member and recent convert, Steven and his wife Katerine. About six weeks ago, we visited them, Steven and Katerine because they hadn´t come to church in months....and lo and behold, Heison was there as well and we invited him to participate. He did, but only after telling us that he is Catholic and that´s that. So we´ve kept coming and teaching him and sharing with him about the restoration, the word of wisdom (which he didn´t take too well...."coffee is NOT bad for us"), and the book of mormon. We recently watched The Testaments with him in the church and it went really well, especially since he was able to meet the bishop and some other ward members who were there in the church as well for mutual. For weeks he´s said that he will come the next Sunday, and the NEXT sunday, and he never came...the cool thing is that his brother and sister-in-law started coming to church with their little daughter when we started teaching Heison, basically because they felt guilty that they didn´t go to church but were inviting Heison to come. WHOOSH haha. Two birds with one stone.....ummmm probably not the best phrase in this situation. But he CAME!!! he arrived just before they started giving the talks. And he stayed in all the classes. And it was awesome. Our mission leader always gives great classes in the Class of Principles of the Gospel, and they all asked good questions and commented lots.. We were so happy, my comp and I, because finally they came.

Enjoy the snow!!! Every single one of my companions latinas (I´ve only had companions latinas, haha) say that it´s their dream to see snow. There is none of that white stuff here, ha, so enjoy it for me while it lasts ;) Thank you so much for the package yall sent!!! I was in need of more socks, haha, and nobody here in central america celebrates thanksgiving, so it was sweet to get some decorations to help me remember that it exists,haha, I just won{t be eating any turkey this thanksgiving ;) The tradition here is pig leg and tamales for Christmas....yum, haha.

I was checking out mormon.org just now, and guess what was the first profile that I saw!?!?! the profile of a member of my ward here in Coronado!!! Irene Monteroso! She is the wife of our mission leader!! haha, wow, it´s awesome! Yall have to watch it, even though it´s in spanish (maybe there is a translation....) She is awesome!

I love you all so much!!! Remember to always put on the full armour of God when yall go out into the world and leave the refuge called home. Ephesions 6:11-17, i believe. the family is under attack always, so be on guard and listen to the words of the prophet and our leaders. Until next week!

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Flake

Pictures Week 26:

Week 25: Mi Semana

Hola Familia!!!
Thanks for sending photos of all the halloween happenings! Sweet costumes! en serio :) Good to know that everyone is doing good and enjoying this time of the year. I miss seeing leaves changing color and all the things that come with autumn and halloween :) I never realized how much I love the change of the seasons. Here the only change in season is the beginning of the day is hot and it always ends cold and rainy (but not freezing cold). Haha, I have heard so many people here say that their greatest wish is to see snow....The grass is always greener....

Things are good here in Coronado, Costa Rica! Recently we planned an activity that will be the 29th of November...we´re going to have an open house in the church! We will have ward missionaries and less active members teaching a small part of the Book of Mormon in different rooms of the church, as well as a member teaching about family history and the activities and programs of the church, as well as the opportunity to watch mormon messages. Then at the conclusion of the activity, we will have Humberto´s baptism. Humberto has been a great example to his family of truly changing. He used to do drugs and smoke and drink and hang out with the wrong kinds of friends in the street. But since meeting Veronica, he has changed completely, and will soon make this sacred covenant with God through baptism. Woo hoo!!! He just has a bit of a problem letting go of coffee....but we´re working on that...adictions are real and terrible....ergh...haha.

Speaking of addictions...Betty is another investigator that we have and we are trying to help her to give up coffee as well as cigarettes....We send her a message every morning at 11am with a scripture or something to help her resist the temptation....But it´s rough.

The other night we shared a quick family home evening with an adorable family in the ward. Familia Martinez have 3 adorable kids, 7, 3, and 1 years old. They are adorbale!!! They are from Guatemala and shared some Guatemalan food with us, for which my companion was estatic...(she´s from guatemala).

I am so grateful for how addresses are done in the states....here is crazy with directions....The streets don´t always have names, and if they do, good luck knowing because rarely are there signs saying what they´re called, and numbers of houses is another story.....they don´t existen, except for some houses have numbers and in no particular pattern or order...haha. In that sense, finding less active or inactive members is super hard because we usually only have their name and the general area in which we can find them....or not find them...haha. Welcome to Costa Rica.... ;) So, sometimes we go in search of inactive members and don´t find anyone, but we knock on doors and sometimes are let in. :) Yesterday we were in that type of situation. It was raining (shocker) and I had left my umbrella in an investigators´s house, so we were sharing my comp´s, laughing because of how ridiculous we look running down people in the street trying to share the gospel...when we decided to knock on a door. First door, the woman said ¨no gracias pero soy catolica¨. The second one finally let us in her house because of how pathetic we looked in the rain and wind practically begging her to just give us 5 minutes....haha. We ended up sharing a nice lesson and she brought us agua dulce and oreos. Then she said that she wanted to pray for us before we left....and she took our hands and began to pray asking God to bless these two angels that came to talk and share a prayer with her...haha. We weren´t complaining, haha. Hopefully she will let us share more of the message of the restoration with her next time.

I just wanna quote my good cousin, Crystal Snow Flake, oops, I mean, Sister Flake....¨I know when i get home i am gonna be the best doggone member missionary out there haha that is my goal!! We need member help SO BAD. we aint nothin without the members!! feed the missionaries this week! invite them in and find someone they can talk too!! reach out!! be brave y'all are already such awesome missionaries- keep it up!! we need y'all.¨  Amen.

For real, members are the only real way to do missionary work. We come and teach, but we need the members to invite their friends to listen to us, or accompany us with those investigators that we´ve found and have been teaching, but who don´t come to church because they don´t know anyone, or probably think they will feel out of place. Members change all of that. I don´t know if I already told y`all or not, but Rafaela is an investigator that we have that came to the baptism of the son of Hermana Karen. Without Karen´s help, Rafaela would have never had a desire to come to church or to see a baptism. But having a son the same age as Ethan, who was baptized, made all the difference.

I was studying today about lesson 1, the restoration, because we have an investigator who believes in prophets, but doesn´t believe that everything they say is true. He doesn´t believe that coffee is bad for us and that sometimes prophets make mistakes or only speak from their own knowledge....but I know that is not true. A prophet is a guide. A guide is worthless if we don´t know when we can follow them or when we shouldn´t listen to their counsel. A guide must be trusted and always show the right way. I love the following quote from Joseph Fielding Smith....

Ït was never the intention of our Father in heaven to leave men to grope and feel their way in darkness and that without any light to guide them,and expect them under such conditions to find their way back into hiskingdom and into his holy presence. That is not the way of the Lord. Alldown the ages from the beginning our Father in heaven has shown hiskindness for his children and has been willing to give them direction.From the earliest times the heavens have been opened, the Lord has sentmessengers from his presence to divinely appointed servants, menholding the authority of the priesthood who have been commissioned toteach the principles of the Gospel, to warn the people and teach themrighteousness; and these men have received this knowledge, thisinspiration and guidance from these messengers from the presence ofGod. This is true of our own dispensation. There is no need for men to shut their eyes and feel that there is no light only as they may depend upon their  reason, for the Lord has always been willing to lead and direct and show the way. He has sent, as I say, messengers from his presence.He has sent revelation. He has commanded that his word be written, thatit be published, so that all the people might know it.

I say to you, and to the whole Church, and, for that matter, to the whole world, that a gracious and loving Father has in these last days spoken again from heaven to his servants the prophets.

His voice has been one inviting all men to come to his Beloved Son, to learn of him, to partake of his goodness, to take his yoke upon them, andto work out their salvation by obedience to the laws of his gospel. His voice has been one of glory and honor, of peace in this life, and of eternal life in the world to come.¨

 I know that we are led and guided by a true and living prophet. I am so thankful for the knowledge of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I love you all and hope that we always look for opportunities to share our testimony with others, especially those we care about greatly. Love yall and sorry for not sending pictures.....I forgot to bring the adapter for my camera....Sorry that my emails are always boring....haha ç

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Flake

Week 24: DAME ESTE MONTE (Give me this Mountain)

Hola mis queridos amigos y familia,

Things are great here in Coronado. We had a baptism this weekend, of Ethan, son of Karen and
Roger. Ethan turned eight this last week and decided to be baptized. His mom told us how he prayed for 100 days to know if the church is true and if he should be baptized. He was so nervous the day of his baptism that he had to go to the clinic because his nerves caused him to have somthing like rocks in his stomach. But he felt better by the time of his baptism. Pobrecito :)  Lots of people came, including Humberto (novio de Veronica, y nuestro proximo bautismo) and Rafaela and her three kids (they are also some of our investigators). Karen really helped us with the fellowshipping of Rafaela, and it´s perfect because she has a son the same age as Ethan, a daughter the same age as Camila (other daughter of Karen). They are awesome, and I look forward to teaching them even more and preparing them to make the decision to become members of the restored church of Jesus Christ.

The holidays in the mission don´t really exist...jaja. Halloween came and went. As well as dia de los muertos....I think that Christmas will at least feel like Christmas because the members want to invite us to make tamales and lots of pig leg.....oh yeah, Christmas time the ticos have a tradition of eating lots of pig leg....yay me jaja. It´s not too bad, if you avoid all the fatty parts and skin....haha.

Estoy muy feliz para estar en la zona Toyopan. Yo quiero esforzarme a ser una misionera que trabaja mas diligentemente y que es siempre feliz pero nunca satisfecha. I feel like I´m at the bottom of a mountain right now, and that I just have to start climbing it to reach the top and to be able to see a bigger picture and have a better view. I know I´m where I´m supposed to be. Each companion that I have had has taught me something (or a lot of things) about who I am and who I want to be. I want to be a missionary that is happy and that has faith to move mountains....haha. I want to be able to say to my companion, after having citas fall one after another, no importa, trabajamos, y vamos a encontrar una familia. I want to have the faith, obedience, and diligence to witness and be a part of miracles. I never feel like I´m capable of being a servant of the Lord. But the Lord qualifies those He calls, and I just have to be willing to give my all and let Him do the rest. Hermana Rubio is a great example of having fun and being happy, and I want to be able to help her enjoy her mission, but also that together we can learn to give OUR ALL to the Lord. This is His time. We are His called servants. I love this ward in Coronado. Even if there are challenges, I know that everything will play out how God wants it to, if we listen to and act according to the Spirit.

Humberto had the date for his baptism change....Our mission leader talked to us and explained how there are activities each weekend this month, and that only the 29th of November would be a good date for the baptism of Humberto....My companion and I, of course, both want it to be earlier, as well as our zone leaders, sister training leaders, district leader....but Humberto is convinced now as well that the date should be the 29th. I hope and pray that this is according to God´s will. I trust in the leaders of the ward, who recieve revelation for the ward and area. But I also know that some things shouldn´t be delayed. We plan to teach Humberto more about the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and the importance it can have in helping him avoid temptation, or overcome it. We are excited for this ward and know that God is preparing many people, we just have to find them and teach them.
 I love Costa Rica. I love the ticos. I love being a missionary. I love my companion.

I am thankful for the trials that we have because through them we become stronger and more dedicated to the Lord. Remember to always give thanks for those mountains in our lives, and even ask for them. Bring it on jaja. :) Dame este monte. It´s only going to make us stronger.

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Flake

Pictures Week 24:

Week 23: Este Semana....que era super chiva

Hola querido familia y amigos!!!!

Lo siento a los que solo hablen español....tienen que traducir el resto de este carta...pero no voy a escribir una vez en español y una vez en inglés....jaja.

This week went by way too fast... We had some great noches de hogar with some awesome families of recent converts, who, despite their circumstances or the daily challenges that come with being human and having to care for a family, press forward and have great desires to start creating habits and traditions in their families that will have eternal consequences for the better. I love being with these families because I feel at home surrounded by lots of little ones, haha and gives me so much desire to base my future family on the gospel and the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We started to have lots more help from members who want to go on visits with us to visit our investigators! That in of itself is a miracle, haha. It helps SOOO much to have a member that bears testimony in a lesson or that invites the investigator to come to church with them (especially when they have kids of the same age as those of the investigator)... Or if they are converts as well, and share of how they came to know that the church is true. I love it.
Humberto is awesome! He has changed so much (he used to be into drugs and had those kinds of friends and huge earrings....) and this sunday he came to church in white shirt and tie. His mom is amazed at the change in him in just 3 months since he met Veronica, who is a member and is his girlfriend.

Oh, and I fell. So I was walking along, texting investigators at the same time, and I felt into a gutter...like one that is 4 feet deep....ok. i didn´t fall in. but tripped and one of my shoes fell in....and it was before lunch (we always head out of the house after our studies before we come back to the house to eat lunch) and it never rains in the morning (only in the afternoon, or night) so we didn´t bring umbrellas in order to use to reach my shoe....haha. but luckily a kid and his older sister walked by and he offered to jump in and retrieve it. haha. thank you kid. So now my knees are all scratched up (but for those who know me, that is a norm). 


This sunday I had a talk with the topic of sharing the gospel through sharing my testimony. Basically took like 10 minutes the night before to think of what I was going to say....for a talk of about 8 minutes....haha. The mission has sure been a quick way to get over my fear of public speaking.

I love Coronado! I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to learn and adapt and grow with Hna. Canales, even if it was just 4 short weeks. I am so grateful for my new companion, Hna. Rubio, who I know is awesome and will work hard.


I feel like things are all fitting together. I know my way around Coronado, for the most part. I have lots of people who have helped me to learn how to open my mouth, how to work with members, etc. and now I just need to help people make their way to the waters of baptism and to the doors of the temple. I love being a missionary.

Sorry for the brevity....we had half an hour less to write today because my comp had her interview with President Wilkinson, so we returned late to Coronado to do internet....and now off to work.
Love you all! Keep up your good examples! Be happy! Share the gospel! Let your light shine! Thanks for the pictures Dad! Thanks for all the letters yall sent me kiddos!! especially Laura, Emma, and Darrell!!! Sorry I coudn´t reply to each of them individually!  Jessica, it means the world to me that you took time to write me and send photos. Sounds like life is more than great back home.

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Flake

Pictures Week 23:

Week 22: I´m getting less and less creative with titles....Just Be Happy :)

We meet once again, my beloved family and friends,

Things are good. Life is great. I´m happy. My companion is happy. Our zone is great. Costa Rica is wet. The work of the Lord moves forward. I tried to take more pictures this week...but I failed once again to take at least 1 photo every day....once again I will attempt..haha

Wow. Things are going great here in Coronado. We had a great week and learned a lot from the especialistas. They did divisions with us and I learned better ways to do LPEs.  My companion, hermana Canales learned a lot too from Hermana Cobourn, because when she came back she started to be a lot better at LPEs and initiating contacts in the street or in buses. We are working more as a team now and have better attitudes. Hermana Canales has faith that we can be successful and that numbers are not a bad thing. When we are focused on improving our goals, and the weekly numbers in the key indicators, we´re really showing that we trust the prophet, apostles, and all other leaders of the church who were inspired with Preach my Gospel and missionary work as we know it today.

Humberto will likely be our next baptism. He is novio (boyfriend) de Veronica, a young woman in the ward. He came last Sunday, and then went to the temple and accepted a fecha bautisimal, but the date fell through when he didn´t come this sunday because he went to visit his uncle. But he is great and we are going to work hard to help him have spiritual experiences and to come to know that this is Christ´s church here on the earth. He shared with us how he has changed so much since knowing Veronica, but that she doesn´t want him to be baptized for her. He wants to do it only if he feels that this is where he should be, and not because his novia is part of it.

Well, I really love this ward and am impressed at how many activities they put together and are always thinking about how they can help less actives, as well as investigators. We still have a ton of work to do and will always have a ton of work to do, but I feel like we are finally getting the hang of working together and improving each week. This next week will be the best ever and will be better than the last week.

Two funny experiences that happened recently. We were knocking a few doors the other week at like 7pm at night, because our district leader promised us that if we did, we would witness miracles. Well, we were being rejected left and right, until the last house on the street....the guy answered and started speaking english....very slow and choppy english....so my poor comp just sat there because she doesn´t understand english....and this guy was basically cortando mi jupa (literally means ^cutting my head¨^ but it´s like chastising) for knocking on their door on a sunday night....but eventually I asked him how long he´s lived in Costa Rica (because I figured that he didn´t know spanish, that he was from Germany or some other country) and he said that he has lived in Costa Rica all his life! so i asked if he speaks spanish....and he does! I don´t know why, but he figured that we didn´t know spanish so began to speak his choppy englsih with me.....hahaha we laughed about that for quite a while, because hermana canales was just listening wondering what in the world he was saying....haha.

The other one we were doing kiosco in the park with our distict. Kiosco is basically when we run people down , haha, no we calmly walk up to them and start introducing ourselves or asking them if they´ve ever met with missionaries and then giving them pamphlets and taking their numbers. one lady starting practically yelling at me telling me that all churches are terrible and only want our money. I hardly got a word out and she was practically watering at the eyes because she felt so strongly about this. haha. part of being a missionary.

Well, things are good. Life is great.

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Flake

Pictures Week 22: